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Work usually takes the New Zealand captain away from his family during the holidays, but this time it’s all different

Alagappan Muthu24-Dec-2020Kane Williamson has long been used to being his team’s best batsman. As New Zealand captain, he is used to the spotlight. As an international cricketer, he is used to a great many things. But on December 25, he will experience something he rarely ever does. Christmas in his own home.”Ehmm…” he said, trying to recall the last time he had lucked out like this. “Dunno. I think I might have had one at one point. Usually we have it at Christchurch or overseas or yeah, it’s been a long time.”

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Williamson was looking forward to the occasion, especially after becoming a father for the first time, although given there is a fairly important Test match also coming up, on Boxing Day against Pakistan at Mount Maunganui, his focus did drift away just a tiny little bit.”Obviously the child part out of all that would be most special. And then I suppose looking at the cricket, the context around playing a Boxing Day Test at home is really special. And you know having Christmas at home, I suppose when you’re used to having it away, it’s a slightly different feeling when you have Christmas and you’re in a hotel room somewhere. And yeah, it’ll be really nice to spend it with family this year. And I know pretty much all the guys have their families around as well to do that. So very cool. And they’ll be very excited to get into the first Test of the series.”Related

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The public have already announced their interest in making the game a part of their festivities, with reports suggesting over 5000 tickets have been sold for the first day at Bay Oval.”Often when we play here in the other formats as well, we tend to get good crowds this time of year,” Williamson said. “It’s sort of a holiday destination. So hopefully we get a few walking in as well and it’ll be great to see a full house here and hopefully we can sustain that throughout the few days and you know it’s a great occasion to be a part of and it appears everybody has the same view of it.”Fanfare tends to follow teams that win and New Zealand are certainly that. They moved up to third place by beating West Indies 2-0 recently, creating quite a bit of congestion at the top of the Test championship table. And though they aren’t favourites just yet, they do have a chance of being one of the two teams that qualify for the final, to be played in June 2021 at Lord’s. Williamson, however, refuses to look that far ahead.Bay Oval is set to host its second-ever Test match•Getty Images

“I mean, I think the context of that is great for the game in general, having the Test Championship,” he said. “But our focus as it was in the last couple of Tests is to basically start again and adapt to the conditions that we’re doing to have. Obviously four different surfaces, different opposition. We know how good Pakistan are and we’re going to have to be at our best starting from that first day here in the Mount and make sure we are really clear in how it is we want to operate and basically try and adjust as quickly as possible. So its coming back to those basics for us and basically playing what is in front of us rather than getting too carried away with potential eventual things, who knows”Williamson missed New Zealand’s last Test match to be there for the birth of his daughter. But that didn’t stop him from taking a couple of sneak peeks to see how his team-mates were doing without him. And what he saw – Henry Nicholls making his career-best score on a very green pitch, Kyle Jamieson continuing to come into his own in Test cricket, Neil Wagner doing what Neil Wagner does – definitely pleased him.”It’s always mixed, watching,” Williamson said. “Although I had other things on my plate, which was great, but you also always miss the guys as well when you’re so used to playing with each other. But then it was really really nice to see them play so well and work through a number of tough periods on wickets that have been sporting. But like I say, it’s just important as a group that we reassess and look at where we need to be on some of the new surfaces and against a strong side like Pakistan.”

Niroshan Dickwella and Dilruwan Perera lift Sri Lanka to competitive score before England openers fail again

Valkerie Baynes23-Jan-2021It was a credit to the Sri Lanka batsmen – in particular their proficiency against spin – that James Anderson’s six-wicket haul was as much an act of damage limitation as destruction on day two in Galle. When left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya made early inroads, England looked to be in danger.It took an unbroken partnership worth 93 from Jonny Bairstow, homeward-bound to rest after this match instead of heading to India, and Joe Root to put them back on course, with Root particularly strong on the sweep to reach 67 not out off just 77 deliveries and push England to 98 for 2 by the close.Where England’s spinners had failed – all 10 Sri Lankan wickets fell to the seamers – Embuldeniya accounted for both openers for the third time in as many innings on this tour.After scores of 4 and 2 in the first Test, Dom Sibley fell to Embuldeniya yet again, this time without scoring, pinned by one that struck him on the knee roll well back in his crease. Compounding the dismissal was Sibley’s wasteful review, which only confirmed that the ball was hitting leg stump.Zak Crawley, who is also yet to reach double figures this series, was out to a good ball from Embuldeniya, angling in and dipping then finding an edge that went straight to Lahiru Thirimanne at slip to put England at 5 for 2 and needing more damage control, this time with the bat. Root and Bairstow dug in to provide just that and ensure that the contest retained its intrigue.The home side had earlier fought their way into a strong position through impressive innings from Niroshan Dickwella and Dilruwan Perera.Dickwella fell painfully short of an elusive Test century when he gifted Anderson his fifth wicket, chipping to Jack Leach at mid-off for 92, his highest score in 41 Test appearances.Dilruwan made an impressive fifty from No. 8, taking to Leach in particular, dancing down the pitch three times to plunder fours through mid-on and mid-off and a six down the ground. He helped add 89 in partnership with Dickwella and then another 49 for the last two wickets to frustrate England.It was another improved batting performance from Sri Lanka after their woeful start to the first Test, with multiple contributors and a stubborn tail.By shortly after lunch, Anderson, the 38-year-old seamer playing his 157th Test, had doubled his tally from the previous day, adding three more wickets to help end Sri Lanka’s innings on 381 and finish with figures of 6 for 40 off 29 overs.It was Anderson’s second straight five-wicket haul in Tests away from home, following his 5 for 40 in Cape Town a year ago, and the 30th of his career – only Richard Hadlee has more among pace bowlers with 36.He removed centurion Angelo Mathews with his sixth ball on day two and drew Suranga Lakmal into a poke outside off-stump as Crawley took a sharp catch at gully either side of Dickwella’s dismissal.Dilruwan Perera raises his bat for fifty•SLC

Mathews added just three runs to his overnight score before a subdued England appeal for what looked to be lbw, with the ball appearing to pass the inside edge and deflecting via the knee roll to Jos Buttler behind the stumps. Mathews was originally given not out but Root called for a review and UltraEdge revealed a spike as the ball passed the bat.That prompted Dickwella to shift gears into drive, quite literally at times, as he assumed the lead upon debutant Ramesh Mendis’ arrival at the crease. Dickwella unfurled a series of well-timed boundaries, carving Sam Curran through backward point and punching Mark Wood through long-on.A fantastic take behind the stumps had Mendis out for a duck, a faint edge off Mark Wood going down the leg side and finding Buttler’s glove at full stretch to his left.Sri Lanka had lost two wickets for 11 runs in the space of 19 balls but Dickwella remained in excellent touch, piercing the covers with two beautiful drives, first off Wood then Anderson. He used Wood’s pace to guide the ball effortlessly to the rope at fine leg before bringing up his fifty with a single off Dom Bess, whom he then swept twice to the boundary.Leach joined Bess in the attack as England opted for dual spinners after the first hour, to Dilruwan’s delight. Bess was also on the receiving end of some harsh Dilruwan treatment after lunch, spilling a return catch struck so hard it caused considerable pain to Bess’s non-bowling hand.Wood’s hard graft was further rewarded with the wicket of Embuldeniya and Curran finally accounted for last man out Dilruwan, who holed out to Leach at deep backward square leg.

They added 186 for the fourth wicket after Ibrahim Zadran set the base with his third Test fifty

Firdose Moonda10-Mar-2021
Afghanistan’s captain Asghar Afghan became his country’s second Test centurion after Rahmat Shah and played an entertaining innings to cap a commanding opening day for his team in the second Test against Zimbabwe. Afghan shared a record 186-run fourth-wicket partnership with Hashmatullah Shahidi, who is 14 away from recording Afghanistan third hundred, and built on the foundation laid by young opener Ibrahim Zadran.The 19-year old scored his third Test fifty and dominated a 50-run second-wicket partnership with Shah, which put Afghanistan on track to go big on a dry, flat track in Abu Dhabi.Although the venue is the same as the one used for the first Test, the pitch is entirely different. While last week’s strip was green tinged with extra bounce on offer, this week’s is placid though there is suggestion it could take turn later on, perhaps in time for Afghanistan’s legspinner Rashid Khan, who recovered from a finger injury to make the XI, to come into play.For Zimbabwe, the going was tough and they made use of all seven bowlers at their disposal, with little success. Apart from a hint of swing in the morning, there was no assistance for the seamers and with the cracks only expected to come into play later in the match, the spinners did not have much to work with either.Blessing Muzarabani adjusted to a fuller length relatively well and Victor Nyauchi found movement with the new ball. Nyauchi enjoyed early success when he found Javed Ahmadi’s outside edge as the opener searched outside offstump and nicked off to Sean Williams at third slip.Zadran’s technique was tighter than his opening partner’s and he was discerning in his shot selection. He drove an overpitched delivery from Muzarabani down the ground, chipped a half-volley on the pads over midwicket and found the gap between third man and gully. In attempting a different length, Nyauchi tried the short ball to Zadran and he was sent to the midwicket fence.Shah provided Zadran good support and forced Williams to introduce the change bowlers earlier than he may have liked. After using Muzarabani for an eight-over spell upfront in the first Test, Williams only gave him a five overs here and Donald Tiripano was brought on in the 11th over.Zadran and Shah navigated him comfortably, and their partnership grew to fifty, with runs coming fairly easily until they pushed for one too many. Zadran hit Tiripano into the gap at deep extra-cover and completed a comfortable two, before deciding to try a third. Shah was slow to respond, Tarisai Musakanda sent in a strong throw just over the stumps at the striker’s end for Regis Chakabva to do the rest.Spin was introduced in the over after that dismissal and almost had an early impact. Sikandar Raza appealed for a catch off his own bowling when Zadran, on 31, played the ball straight back to him but replays showed the ball touched the ground as Raza’s fingers curled around it.Zadran was slightly more conservative in his approach after the scare and reached his fifty after the lunch interval with a flick to backward square. Then, he grew more aggressive against spinners, stepping out against both Raza and Williams, to hit them down the ground for four. He did not have the same intent against Ryan Burl and pushed forward to defend one that turned enough to take the outside edge to end his innings on 72.That brought Afghan to the crease and after allowing himself some time to settle, he showed his intent. He dragged Williams over mid-on, dispatched Tiripano’s short balls, slogged Burl through midwicket and swept him to fine leg to race to 34 off 36 balls before slowing down in the lead-up to tea. Then, in the final session, with Hashmatullah as the perfect foil, Afghan decided to have some fun.Nyauchi’s second spell was saved for later in the day and treated with disdain by Afghan, who showed off his back-foot play with two strong whips. Afghan outscored Hashmatullah and brought up fifty with a single before Hashmatullah did the same, gently pushing the ball into the covers.Hashmatullah took advantage of short balls from the Zimbabwe’s spinners, who grew weary trying to make things happen but it was Afghan who stood out with his aggression. He took 16 runs off the first three balls of Burl’s eighth over, sending him over midwicket for six, to the same area for four and then through the covers for good measure.The second new ball did nothing to rein him in and Afghan reached his century in an Nyauchi over that he plundered 16 runs off. First, he swung to cow corner and got six to enter the 90s, then he cleared mid-off for two, then found four through the midwicket area and reached the milestone with a clean stroke to long-on. Afghan scored 84 of his 106 runs on the leg side and finished the day as Afghanistan’s highest individual scorer.

Coach Matthew Mott says they won’t rotate players for the sake of it on the tour of New Zealand

Andrew McGlashan10-Mar-2021Australia are determined not to be “caught out” at next year’s 50-over Women’s World Cup with memories of falling short in 2017 still often referred to by members of the current squad who took part.Four years ago, Australia were bundled out by Harmanpreet Kaur spectacular 171 at Derby. That became a watershed moment for the side who realised they had started to stagnate and it has been a key motivator behind their record since which has included two T20 World Cup titles and a record-equaling run of 22 ODI wins.They will use the upcoming tour of New Zealand, which includes three T20Is and three ODIs, as a chance to gather intel ahead of the tournament and also to keep challenging themselves to lift their own performance levels.”What we are trying achieve in T20 is also what we are trying achieve in one-day cricket which is try to take the game on, push the boundaries a little bit and see how far we can take it,” head coach Matthew Mott told ESPNcricinfo.Related

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“We learnt our lessons from the last World Cup, not evolving and probably thinking we could keep rolling along doing the same thing. We don’t want to be caught out this time, this is a perfect opportunity against good opposition – I know they’ve struggled against England but the Kiwis always give us a good run, in their home conditions we won’t be taking them lightly.”We are going over with a reasonably open mind, there’s a good mix of players, experience and some youth, so for us it’s about having a real dress rehearsal seeing what it will be like at that World Cup. We’ll play on a few of the same venues and getting some intel against New Zealand on those grounds will be great for us.”Australia are taking a 17-player squad across the Tasman – offspinner Molly Strano a late replacement for injured allrounder Annabel Sutherland – which includes the uncapped pace bowlers Darcie Brown and Hannah Darlington, but there won’t be caps handed out for sake of giving everyone a game.Australia beat New Zealand 3-0 at the start of the season•AFP via Getty Images

“Think our batting will stay the same, we’ve had a good run in our ODI cricket and style of cricket we’ve been playing we’ve been happy with,” Mott said. “In our one-day bowling attack there’s a lot of options. What we want to maintain is a bit of unpredictably so teams don’t know what to expect, so certainly different bowling combinations will happen. They’ll be subtle changes in there but our games are pretty similar and our best players are our best in both formats.”Players don’t generally want to give up their spot, either, so you have to manage that…but if there’s a close call to be made and there’s a player who has an opportunity and a senior player could do with a game off to refresh then those are the sorts of conversations we’ll have with the selectors.”Even just being the squad for a couple of people who haven’t been there is an enormous opportunity to understand our culture, how the team operates so there’s plenty of benefits even if they don’t get a game.”Mott has also been encouraged by the volume of runs being scored in the WNCL, highlighted by Elyse Villani’s prolific form which has brought 538 runs 134.50 including three hundreds. Of the squad heading to New Zealand, Rachael Haynes, Beth Mooney and Nicola Carey have scored centuries, Meg Lanning has a best of 96, Alyssa Healy 92 and Mott believes Ellyse Perry’s batting is heading back to its peak.”What’s been really exciting recently has been the number of players getting big hundreds,” he said. “That’s a trend that we like to see as a selection group – someone gets a hundred and the next day one of their team-mates is trying to get one as well. I’ve been inspired by players putting their hands up with those big hundreds.”The strength of Australia’s top order makes it a tough route back for Villani, who last played in March 2019, with the team generally only including three specialist batters in Haynes, Mooney and Lanning alongside wicketkeeper Healy and a plethora of allrounders.Elyse Villani has had an outstanding WNCL season•Getty Images

“It’s probably one of the best things you can see as a coach,” Mott said of Villani’s form. “I’ve been in regular contact with Elyse over the last couple of months to say keeping going, keep doing what you are doing, and she’s definitely playing with a lot of freedom at the moment. She looks self-assured, relaxed and if she can keep doing that then there’s obviously a future for her in Australian colours again.”She was in the team for a long time and by her own admission probably didn’t smash it out the park so all these runs and the way she’s doing about it is really exciting and shows how much depth we’ve got when we can leave a player of her class and caliber out.””It’s a bloody hard team to break into at the moment and all those other players in front of her have been scoring big runs as well. For Elyse she is competing in that team as a specialist batter. She’s doing all the right things it’s just unfortunate when you have good players in front of you.”The squad will depart for New Zealand on Saturday and then undergo two weeks managed isolation in Christchurch during which they will be able to train.

Visitors five down and just 39 ahead after Hannon-Dalby knocks over top order

George Dobell10-Apr-2021There was a time when, confronted by tricky conditions and a tight match situation, a batsman might be expected to buckle down for some dogged resistance.Take Alan Hill, for example. Hill is something of a folk hero among Derbyshire supporters for his obdurate batting. He holds the record for the highest first-class score (103, since you ask, made for Orange Free State v Griqualand West in 1976-77) without a boundary. He’s one of only three men to have made a first-class hundred without hitting a four or six. Once, when batting against Kent at Derby in 1977, he went 68 minutes before getting off the mark. He might not have had the spectators flocking in, but by God bowlers had to earn his wicket.Modern cricket isn’t like that. While there are one or two Hill-types out there – Dom Sibley isn’t a bad example – the default response to most situations these days appears to be to attempt to hit the ball harder and further. You couldn’t say the game was less skilful than it was previously; batters play shots of which Hill and co could never have dreamed. And you might argue the contemporary game is more entertaining than it has ever been. But maybe, somewhere along the way, some subtle skills – not least the will and ability to defend for long periods – has been lost.Related

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So it was that Derbyshire, starting their second innings with a deficit of 32 runs, seemed intent on thrashing their way into a match-winning position before a ball could come along to defeat them.It was a puzzling tactic. While the conditions were certainly offering some assistance to the seamers, evidence from the Warwickshire innings – and the success of Matt Lamb, Rob Yates and Tim Bresnan, in particular – suggested there was little benefit in pushing for the ball and more in waiting for it.Maybe Derbyshire’s batters simply wanted to return to the warmth of the dressing room? This match has been played in miserably cold conditions and was interrupted by sleet on the third afternoon. Even while play was in progress, the temperature was just under three degrees. It’s literally warmer in a fridge.The man beneficiary of Derbyshire’s loose approach to batting was Oliver Hannon-Dalby. Bowling, as ever really, an immaculate length, he probed around off stump with unrelenting accuracy. And while he is not especially quick – somewhere around 80mph, you would think – his height (6ft 8in) enables him to gain disconcerting bounce. Combined with an ability to hit the seam and gain swing and you have, in these conditions at least, a dangerous bowler.In taking all five wickets to fall so far in the second innings, he has sustained his outstanding recent performances. His overall career record may look modest – that average hovers just above 30 – but, since the start of 2017, he is taking his first-class wickets (and there have been 106 of them) at a cost of 22.36 apiece. He has developed into a fine operator and key member of this side.”It’s a good cricket wicket,” Hanon-Dalby said afterwards. “Yes, there’s something there for the bowlers. But if you don’t put the ball in the right place, there are runs to be scored. We did’t expect them to come as hard at us in their second innings as they did.”What am I doing differently over the last few years? I’ve sure I’ve matured a bit as a cricketer. But mainly it’s about opportunity. There were so many great bowlers ahead of me when I came to Warwickshire: Chris Woakes, Keith Barker, Rikki Clarke, Chris Wright, Boyd Rankin… the list goes on. I was coming on fourth change sometimes.”So, I’ve had to bide my time for a chance to take the new ball and show what I can do.”Here, Luis Reece, usually so disciplined, drove loosely at one angled across him, Anuj Dal played across a straight one and Leus du Plooy – maybe that should read “du Pl00y” – completed a pair when he was beaten by a fine delivery that nipped back into him. By the time Billy Godleman jabbed at one he could have left, Derbyshire were four down and only two ahead.Wayne Madsen could consider himself unfortunate, though: the ball that dismissed him pitched on middle, bounced and left him to take the edge. It might have been too good for anyone.That the match goes into the final day is largely due to the weather – there was no play after 2.40pm – and Matt Critchley. Critchley has enjoyed a fine game. His first-innings contribution of 64 remains the most fluent knock of the match, and he has top-scored so far in Derbyshire’s second innings, once again demonstrating some lovely timing off his legs and a pleasing pull for four when Liam Norwell dropped short.He also helped polish off the Warwickshire innings on the third morning. Yes, he’ll confront more testing batsmen in his career, but he ended Lamb’s worthy resistance with a legbreak, Madsen holding on to the sharpest of catches in front of his face at slip, almost defeated Danny Briggs with a first-ball googly, then trapped Norwell with one that skidded on.So that’s variety, control and an ability to bat he has demonstrated in this match. A career bowling average in the mid-40s suggests he is nowhere near international cricket. But, given England’s relatively meagre options and his relative youth at 24, he may be a cricketer to keep an eye upon.He has some work ahead of him on the fourth day. Perhaps, if Derbyshire can stretch this lead to 150 or so, they may yet put Warwickshire under pressure. You suspect, however, they will rue the frenetic way they went about their second innings.

The doctors are understood to have said that Rahul will be able to restart all activity after a week’s rest

Nagraj Gollapudi03-May-2021KL Rahul successfully underwent surgery for appendicitis on Monday.The Kings flew Rahul on a charter flight to Mumbai, where he underwent laparoscopic appendectomy, a minimally invasive surgery. The doctors are understood to have told the Kings that Rahul would be able to restart all activity after a week’s rest. The Kings will now consult with the IPL to determine Rahul’s quarantine period and other protocols that would need to be followed in order for him to re-enter the team bubble and start playing again.Hours before the Kings’ last match, on Sunday, against the Delhi Capitals in Ahmedabad, the team issued a statement announcing that Rahul was suffering from “acute appendicitis” after complaining of “severe abdomen pain” on Saturday.He had last played on April 30, where his unbeaten 91 was the backbone of the Kings’ victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore.Rahul is among the tournament’s top scorers so far, with 331 runs in seven innings at an average of 66.20 and strike rate of 136.21, including four half-centuries. The Kings would be keen to get him back on the field as soon as possible, as they look to lift themselves into the top four in the second half of the group games: currently they sit sixth on the table, with three wins in eight games.They had named Mayank Agarwal stand-in captain in his absence, and Agarwal rose to the occasion by smacking 99 not out off 58 balls against the Capitals on Sunday. But with little support from the rest of the batting – they managed only 166 for 6 in their 20 overs – the Kings fell to a seven-wicket defeat.

Netherlands seamer was club’s overseas player in 2019 and will return for T20 Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2021Logan van Beek, the Netherlands seamer, will return to Derbyshire for this year’s T20 Blast as a replacement for the injured Billy Stanlake.Stanlake had been due to play for the club in all formats this season but has flown back to Australia following a stress fracture suffered in his first appearance of the summer against Essex. His replacement, van Beek, was Derbyshire’s overseas player in 2019, and will return to the club for the duration of the Blast.He was part of the Wellington squad that won the Super Smash last season, and will be the club’s third registered overseas player alongside Ben McDermott and Dustin Melton, with a maximum of two permitted in the same playing XI.Dave Houghton, Derbyshire’s director of cricket, said: “Logan’s got a great attitude and he fit straight into the squad during what was a successful Vitality Blast run for Derbyshire in 2019 [when they reached Finals Day].”He’s continued to improve his game over the last two seasons and the silverware for his club in New Zealand, as well as earning a recall to the Netherlands side, is testament to his development.”We were disappointed to lose Billy [Stanlake] to injury, but in Logan we’ve got a replacement who understands the club and our ambitions for the T20 tournament this summer.”

Jennings chimes in with 54* to help overhaul Northamptonshire with 26 balls to spare

ECB Reporters Network09-Jul-2021New Zealand opener Finn Allen made his third fifty in 11 Vitality Blast innings this season as Lancashire Lighting thrashed Northamptonshire Steelbacks by eight wickets at Emirates Old Trafford.Allen made 66 off 37 balls with seven fours and three sixes as his side overhauled the Steelbacks’ moderate total of 142 for 8 with 26 balls to spare.The result keeps Lightning’s hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals very much alive but the Steelbacks’ chances are very slim after an evening in which the visitors were not on form in any of the three disciplinesNorthamptonshire’s innings got off to a dreadful start when they lost their openers Ben Curran and Ricardo Vasconcelos to catches in the deep in the first 11 balls. Steven Croft and Tom Hartley were the successful bowlers and they were joined by Liam Hurt in the fifth over when Josh Cobb clipped him to Danny Lamb at short fine leg and departed for 20.Poorly placed on 42 for 3 after their Powerplay, the Steelbacks’ reconstruction of their innings was left in the hands of Rob Keogh and Mohammad Nabi and this pair added 60 in nearly nine overs before Nabi was leg before wicket for 27 when attempting a pull off Lamb.Keogh went on to make a gutsy 56 despite appearing to suffer a leg injury but he was one of four wickets to fall in the final four overs as the Steelbacks’ innings ran out of steam.Lancashire’s cricket, by contrast, was outstanding with at least five fine catches being taken in the deep. Hurt’s 3 for 22 represented his best return in T20 cricket but no member of the Lightning attack was collared. Lamb took 2 for 27 and Luke Wells conceded only 18 runs from three overs of leg spin.Lancashire’s reply got off to a very brisk start with the fifty coming up in 33 balls and both Allen and Keaton Jennings scoring freely. The pair had set a first-wicket record for Lancashire against Northamptonshire before Allen pulled Nabi to Josh Cobb at midwicket.However, neither this wicket nor that of Alex Davies, caught at deep midwicket by Nabi off Freddie Heldreich for seven materially affected the outcome. Having reached his own fifty off 38 balls, nine balls more than Allen had taken, Jennings was unbeaten on 54 when victory was clinched by Dane Vilas’s massive six.

Coach says even if younger players don’t get game-time, tour will be a great learning opportunity

Shashank Kishore27-Jun-20214:55

Rahul Dravid: Away performances catch selectors’ attention

Rahul Dravid, India’s head coach for their limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka, is clear that their main objective is to win the series, and not necessarily just look to help players gain experience and match time, a method he has implemented with great success at the India A and India U-19 levels.”There are a lot of people in the squad who are pushing for places ahead of the T20 World Cup coming up, but the key goal, and we’ve had discussions around it, is to try and win the series,” Dravid said on Sunday, ahead of the team’s departure to Colombo for three ODIs and three T20Is.”That is the primary objective. Hopefully if people can get the opportunity to put in some good performances in the course of us trying to win the series, they will give themselves the best chance of knocking on the doors of the selectors.”Related

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Tour objectives aside, Dravid encouraged the younger players to soak in the experience of being part of an Indian team on an overseas tour, and not treat the tour as a life-and-death situation. The message is: “Good performances will be great, but a few off days won’t mean the end of the world.””There are a lot of young kids, even if they don’t play, it’s a great opportunity to be on a trip with the Indian team and interact with seniors like Shikhar (Dhawan, the captain), Bhuvneshwar (Kumar, the vice-captain), Hardik (Pandya),” Dravid said. “There’s a lot they can learn from that experience. The young boys coming on this trip, they’ll all be keen to do well and set some sort of markers for the selectors.”Whether they get selected for the T20 World Cup or not, that’s a call the selectors will take, but being on a tour like this and playing against an international quality opposition, if you’re able to put a marker and show the ability to do it at this level, the selectors will start to take note. But by no means is it a life and death kind of a situation. It doesn’t mean if you don’t have a good tour, you won’t make it, or if you have a great tour, you’ll be an automatic pick. There’s a lot that goes into it.”Rahul Dravid won’t follow the template used for pathway teams with the Indian side•Getty Images

Much of the team’s plans, Dravid said, will be finalised after he has a set of chats with the Indian team management that is currently in England for a five-Test series. As such, the upcoming three T20Is in Sri Lanka will be India’s only games in the format ahead of the T20 World Cup in October-November. Prior to that, though, most of the players, will feature in the remainder of IPL 2021 in the UAE.”These are the only three games before the T20 World Cup and I am sure the selectors and management would have a fair idea by now on the squad they are looking for. There is going to be an IPL as well in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup,” Dravid said. “This gives a few people an opportunity for the one or two places the team management or the selectors may be looking for, and give them a few more options. That would be the goal for the next three T20s.”There are a couple of selectors travelling with us, so it gives me a chance to interact with them and see what they are thinking, what their ideas are. I’ve had a little bit of contact with the team management in England, but I didn’t want to disturb them during the WTC, but I will touch base over the next couple of weeks and see what their thoughts are, what they are thinking about the T20 World Cup and see if we can implement some of those plans for the next three games.”Asked to explain if such a multi-format arrangement, where India have one set of players competing in a Test series and another playing elsewhere in white-ball cricket, is the way forward, Dravid underlined the importance of being practical in a post-pandemic world.Shikhar Dhawan will lead India in the ODIs and T20Is•BCCI/IPL

“This is a unique situation in terms of quarantines and rules that have led to this situation,” Dravid said. “It’s very hard to predict what will happen even on a month-on-month basis. With quarantines as structured as they are and travel restricted, at least in the short term this plan allows you to complete tours and engagements.”India probably had no option for this tour. I’m not sure if it is a long-term solution though, because there are many more stakeholders involved: other boards, broadcasters, sponsors, media rights. Certainly, in the short term, this could ease pressure because it’s becoming difficult for the same set of players to go through all the restrictions in place to play all formats. So yes, in the short term a good idea but for the long term, it’ll need lot more discussions.”The Dhawan-led squad will land in Colombo early on Monday, following which the team will undergo three days of hard quarantine before beginning training in a controlled manner as per guidelines laid out by Sri Lanka Cricket. The tour begins with the ODI series (July 13, 16 and 18) followed by the T20Is (July 21, 23 and 25). All matches will be played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

His comments come in response to testimony given by ex-selector Hussein Manack on the lead-up to the Wanderers Test against England in 2015-16

Firdose Moonda05-Aug-2021AB de Villiers has denied asking for Kagiso Rabada to be dropped from the Test team at the start of Rabada’s career and said he only made inputs into selection in “the best interests of the team”. Responding to testimony given by former national selector Hussein Manack at Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings, de Villiers distanced himself from decisions that Manack alleged were made along racial lines.Manack spent the bulk of his testimony discussing the well-known case of Khaya Zondo on the 2015 tour of India, where Zondo didn’t play a single game, and the role de Villiers’ played in that episode. But the Rabada case, centred around the Wanderers Test against England in 2015-16, has not been publicly aired before.”I had been to the practice the day before and a decision had to be made between playing Kyle Abbott and Hardus Viljoen,” said Manack, who was selector then. “A discussion at practice took place and they [the team management] said we must drop KG [Rabada].”I asked on what basis. Rabada was 20 years old and he hadn’t established himself as a great player but having seen him at the Lions, where he was coming through, I had seen a lot of him. He had a good enough reputation. There was a cricketing explanation that maybe the ball wasn’t coming out of his hand right. I took it back to [bowling coach] Charl Langeveldt and … Charl’s view was that he was comfortable and everybody on the selection panel was unanimous that Rabada had to play. I said our decision is that Rabada has to play. There was one more spot that had to be filled. We said between Abbott and Viljoen, you decide who you want. We don’t have a strong view either way. In the end, they went for Viljoen and they weren’t happy with the fact that we had stood our ground.”Rabada claimed his first five-for in that match, and a career-best 13 for 144 in the next Test. Viljoen did not play for South Africa again.de Villiers told ESPNcricinfo that he had not wanted Rabada dropped. “I have never wanted KG dropped from any team at any time,” he said. “The idea is ridiculous. He is one of the finest bowlers in world cricket.”Related

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Manack spoke at length about the Zondo story, which led to black players raising selection concerns in a letter to CSA at the time. “On the 2015 tour of India, David Miller was battling for form. Throughout the second and third ODI we had discussions that maybe we need to get Khaya in and do a swap. At one stage, David even opened the batting and I was surprised at that move. Maybe it was tactical but in my mind, I was suspicious of that move. In my mind, they were trying to protect David,” Manack said. “David was struggling with spin. So what they did, instead of dropping him and bringing Khaya in, moved him to the top of the order, where he would play the new ball.”Miller was short of runs in the first two ODIs and ended up with only 74 runs in five games, struggling against spinners, but he was averaging 54 and striking at 113 in ODIs for the year until that series. Zondo had scored 288 runs in 10 matches in the previous season’s domestic one-day cup, where he averaged 41.14 and was taken on tour as the back-up batter.In the final ODI of the series, tied 2-2, Manack said he was unhappy that Miller was in the XI. “I felt David Miller needed to be dropped and if Khaya was the back-up batter, we needed to play him. The coach and captain were not happy with me. We had a discussion and I got back to the selectors and said do we play Khaya or not? There was some disagreement but the majority of the decision was that we said Khaya should play.The well-known case of Khaya Zondo came up extensively in Hussein Manack’s testimony•PTI

“The captain [de Villiers] was not happy. An hour or two later I got a call from the CEO and he said he just received a call from the captain who said he is not happy with the team. I went to the CEOs room and I got the distinct impression that the captain was very unhappy to the extent that, reading between the lines, I thought there was going to be some sort of fall out if he didn’t get his team. Before that there was the incident with Vernon Philander and Abbott at the World Cup and that time the captain didn’t get his team. I got the distinct impression that the captain wanted his team. I thought he was going to pull out of the team and threaten not to play. The words were not said but that’s the impression I got.”Asked by the ombudsman, Dumisa Ntsebeza, if he thought Zondo’s exclusion was racially motivated, Manack was equivocal. “I sat with AB in the evening and I gave in. He did have some cricketing reasons, which did make sense. Some of the reasons were that we were effectively playing in a final. Do we want to play a young cricketer in a final against one of the noisiest crowds in the world?”But maybe it was racially motivated. It’s difficult to escape that view. If one were to give the captain the benefit of the doubt, maybe he has a fair argument. If I look back at the last 15 or 20 years, very often captains protect their friends and buddies. They look after one another. That does happen.”de Villiers did not deny that leaving Zondo out was his call but said he felt it was for the benefit of the team. “It is obviously difficult to pick apart selection discussions many years later, and recollections will vary. However, I can unequivocally state that my input to such discussions was always motivated only by what I considered to be best for the team, and nothing else.”CSA did conduct an inquiry into Zondo’s exclusion and found that it was “unfair because it did not conform to the CSA policy”, Norman Arendse, a former board president, told the SJN. But CSA did not go as far as to say that Zondo was excluded on the basis of race.”There were the allegations of racial discrimination but from the information that was provided to the task team, we found that there were cricketing reasons given for his inclusion and cricketing reasons given for his exclusion. It reflects on CSA too that we didn’t go the step further to find his exclusion was race-based. The task team didn’t find it necessary to make such a finding because we did find that it was unfair. As a lawyer, I was confined to the four corners of my brief, and on that we couldn’t make a finding that he was excluded because of the colour of his skin. We had a reasonable suspicion that that may well have been the case but a clear finding would not have been justified on the evidence placed before us.”In hindsight, Manack said he felt responsible for Zondo’s exclusion. “I should have stood firm. I feel I let Khaya down. If you look at it, it was the same captain who was involved in the Rabada incident. There is a bit of a pattern that has developed over the years and you will find some names have come up over and over again. In this instance, I should have stood my ground. I want to acknowledge my part in what happened to Khaya. I take responsibility for it. I regret it.Zondo went on to debut against India at Centurion three years later, and to date has played five ODIs for South Africa.